Computer boot failure

andrahestia

Beta member
Messages
3
Hey, I thought I'd give this a try as I'm pulling my hair out.

I recently inherited my boyfriends computer. He originally had (this is rough as I don't have machine in from of me atm);
Intel Core 2 Quad Core,
Gigabyte Mobo,
4GB 1066mhz DDR2 (2x2GB),
ATI Radeon 1GB GFX,
1TB SATA HDD,
SATA DVD RW,
600W Modular PSU.

I added the following to it from my old built;
4GB 1066mhz DDR2 (2X2GB)
Edimax Wifi Card (PCI)
1TB SATA HDD

And I upgraded the OS from Vista to 7.

This morning I was on Skype and running Steam in the background downloading some games and the power just failed. It restarted 2 seconds later and the fans and HDD kicked up but no BIOS or 'beep'.

I powered down and removed all the added kit, restarted and got the same thing. I had enough time to change the GFX to a spare one and same problem.

I was just wondering if anyone knows what else I can do? I really need this computer and my spare laptop is in for repair (sister dropped it down the stairs) so I only have the net on my phone or at uni and life without a PC is hell!

Thank you so much!
 
Have you added an extra HDD? if so.....

Maybe your system isn't recognizing you new HDD, take out the CMOS and it will reset the Bios and see if the hard drive is detected.

Also check which which drive has boot priority too.
 
Yeah I added another HDD but I can't even get the BIOS up so I doubt it's a HDD error. I removed the new HDD and tested and still no BIOS...
 
Open it up and take the HDD's out and take the RAM,Graphics card out and then replace them firmly into position.

Remove the cmos battery and wait 30 secs then stuck it back in then try boot up again, also check the cables and leads are not damaged in any way too.
 
If the bios screen doesn't flash it's because of your mother board. You had the computer plugged in to a surge protector right? If not, I encourage you to go buy one when/ if we get this up and running.

The hardware you added isn't going to be the problem. If you got your computer up and running and upgraded to Windows 7 (x64.. right?) THEN you were playing on Skype and Steam, it works. I'm sure you looked at the secondary HDD to see if it was working, correct? Please confirm all of this :)

As far as your computer just not turning on, BUT your PSU and your fans will turn on, please confirm this:
Are the fans plugged straight in to PSU or are the plugged in to the motherboard?

Now, let's see if this will fix the problem. Unplug everything from the motherboard that is coming from the PSU. You should have a 24 pin connector (or 20+4) a 4 pin connector, and Maybe a 6 pin connector on a graphics card (I'm not looking up your hardware yet.. so there may be more/less)

Now plug it back in :) Turn it on and see if it works.

Your hard drives should still be turning on, they are connected straight to the PSU. Even if your computer is not working, your HDDs should be, as well as your CD drive. If they are not, you may have a PSU problem. Steal your boyfriends for a little bit.. "borrow" it :) See if it works!

-Q
 
Not sure why, but this problem is always over-analyzed.

In a power blip, the best thing to do, short of investing in a UPS, is to unplug the power from the computer, hold in the power button and wait for 30 seconds while holding it in. Let go, plug the power back in and turn the system back on. If nothing was damaged by the power sag/spike, then the system should fire right up, without having to rip open the guts of the system.
 
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